Memory devices are typically implemented as integrated circuit devices. As the term is used herein, “integrated circuit” includes devices such as those formed on monolithic semiconducting substrates, such as those formed of group IV materials like silicon or germanium, or group III-V compounds like gallium arsenide, or mixtures of such materials. The term includes all types of devices formed, such as memory and logic, and all designs of such devices, such as MOS and bipolar. The term also comprehends applications such as flat panel displays, solar cells, and charge coupled devices.
Memory devices take several different forms, including random access memory, read only memory, and programmable memory, to name just a few. There are numerous different varieties and blends of all of these different types of memory. One type of memory is called non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory does not require a constant source of power in order to retain the data that is stored within it. Thus, non-volatile memory is well adapted for applications that do not have a large power supply available to them, such as mobile applications.
However, non-volatile memory has traditionally been somewhat slower than other kinds of memory, for a variety of different reasons. One aspect of the speed at which non-volatile memory operates is the speed at which the sense amplifier and sensing scheme operate. Other aspects of the design of a non-volatile memory also impact the speed of operation of the memory.
What is needed, therefore, are new designs for non-volatile memory that overcome various problems, such as those described above, at least in part.